‘Major safety concerns’: Waikato gyms tell minors to lie about age

The All Access Pass allows members to access the gym 24/7. But they must be 16 to be eligible.

The mother told her son to never bench press without a spotter and never use heavy weights when staff are not present in case something goes wrong.

“Not many people are able to tell their children that,” she said.

She later heard that her son’s other friends had also been instructed to lie about their age at the same gym.

Subsequently, the youngster’s mother recently signed up at another Jets Fitness franchise in Hamilton, the Jets Hamilton base, and mentioned to the receptionist what had happened to her son at Jetts Te Awamutu.

“I told her that last week and she said, ‘Oh, yes, we do that all the time, too.'”

The Jetts NZ website says you must be at least 14 to be a member, and show proof of age when signing up.

Access is limited only during staff hours, it continues. You must be over 16 to access any gym 24/7.

“[This is a] A major safety concern for these teenagers … bench pressing heavy weights without spotters can easily lead to death or serious injury,” Moore said.

“These are concerns about children possibly injuring themselves on the equipment when they don’t have parents or other adults in the gym at the time.

“If some of these 14-year-olds with grandmothers think they can lift more weight than they can, it can be very dangerous.”

Both gyms are open Monday to Thursday from 12pm to 2.30pm and from 3pm to 6pm. They are off duty on Fridays and Sundays and work on Saturdays from 8am to 11pm.

of the Herald Both gyms have been contacted for comment on the allegations and while Jets tight end Te Owamoto denied any knowledge of the incident, Jets base manager Hamilton said; “I’m actually in the process of accounting for this and trying to correct my mistake”.

The administrator did not provide a reason for instructing minors to lie about their age and did not wish to comment further.

You in a statement HeraldJetts NZ said it had “been made aware of an incident” where members were allowed access to the facility 24/7, which was “not in accordance with our internal policies and procedures”.

“The Jets NZ team prides itself on maintaining high standards and a review has been launched to ensure we continue to meet these goals going forward,” the statement read.

The Jets did not want to comment on individual employees.

Moore said she raised her concerns with the Jets, but there was no real interest or acknowledgment until she said she contacted the Jets. Herald.

“They only tried to reach out after I said I had contacted them Herald And then I thought, ‘These things, I’m not giving you my time now when I mentioned it clearly on several occasions before’.

She took to Facebook to express her concern, where another mother said her family had a similar experience.

“We experienced this with one of our children. They were lied to about their age. Looking at it, the terms and conditions also state that a parent must be with them when they sign the contract if they are underage. to be

“But I know many who have been lied to, so there is no need to be with parents. They then sign them to pay minimum one-year contracts. Not impressed,” the comment read.

Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based journalist covering breaking news. He has worked for Herald Since 2022.

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